Applicants claim the benefits under 35 U.S.C. 119 of Japanese Patent Application 2001-039151, which was filed Feb. 15, 2001. This Japanese Patent Application and its translation are incorporated by reference into this Application.
This invention pertains to computers and other information processing systems and, more particularly, to a computer system having an input device capable of having a plurality of input devices and inputting click information.
Numerous “input pointing devices” or “coordinate input devices” have been developed to input position or coordinate data into a personal computer (PC). These input pointing devices include such well know devices as the mouse, the stick type pointing device commonly used with notebook PC's, the track ball wherein the user physically rotates a ball to indicate a change in position, the track pad wherein input coordinate data is a function of the location of a user's finger on the pad, the tablet or digitizer that detects the position of a pen on the surface of the tablet or digitizer, and the touch panel that inputs data based on the location that a user's finger touches a display screen.
An operation called a “double-click” is typically performed by pointing the input device to a selected coordinate and then pushing a switch associated with the input device twice during a short interval of time. This double click operation is frequently used to start an application or to open a predetermined file.
In the case of a double-click operation on a tablet, a deviation in coordinate data is apt to occur between a first click and a second click. Therefore, Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 5-158608 describes technology that recognizes a double-click when there is a deviation, within a predetermined range, in coordinate information between two clicks. In addition, Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 10-143319 discloses a technology to detect a double-click operation when the first and second coordinate positions are in the same data input area and within a predetermined time period, and a double-click operation by a double touch using the forefinger and the middle finger.
Thus, different types of input devices have been used in recent years, and improvements have been made as to double-click recognition for individual input devices, and no prior improvement has been made for a computer system equipped with a plurality of input devices.
Conventionally, double-click recognition area (the coordinate area within which the first and second clicks occur) and double-click recognition time intervals (i.e., the time interval between the two clicks) are kept by an operating system (OS) in a registry with common settings for every input device, such that each and every input device uses the same settings. In the case where a plurality of input devices are connected to the same computer and the settings of the recognition area and recognition time interval are changed for one input device, other input devices will also operate according to these common settings. In general, when compared to a double-click operation with a mouse or a track ball, a double-click operation of a pen on a tablet often results in significant coordinate deviation between the first and second clicks, and the click intervals are typically longer. In addition, a double-click operation of a touch panel usually results in still greater coordinate deviation between the two clicks, and the typical click time interval is even longer. Consequently, in the case where the double-click recognition area and double-click recognition time interval are set by the OS for a predetermined device, a problem occurs when other input pointing devices are used having different recognition area and time interval requirements for a double-click operation.
As one solution to such a problem, the recognition area and recognition time interval can be set to an intermediate level for a plurality of input devices. However, use of intermediate settings will not result in the best operation of each of the input devices. In particular, a malfunction may occur to all the input devices in the case where the characteristics of the plurality of input devices are significantly different.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to have improved double-click recognition in a computer system having a plurality of input devices. Another object of the present invention is to make it unnecessary for the operating system to recognize different types of the input devices, and to cause the operating system to correctly recognize a double-click operation performed by each of the input devices.